The NEWTREE Blog

In our today’s post Philippe Ruttens, formerly a photographer now working as marketing manager and consultant, will talk about his photo that won our November tree competition that NEWTREE ran on its Facebook fan page. Let’s find out what kinds of stories, people and events surround this extremely beautiful image that will appear in NEWTREE’s 2011 calendar.

NEWTREE: Philippe, first of all, thanks for being a fan of NEWTREE chocolate, and for participating in our photo competition. We’re happy for you, and hope you’ll enjoy your prize, a nice chocolate massage!

Tell us why you decided to submit exactly this photo?

Philippe: It actually didn’t take me long to find my photo as I don’t actually photograph trees much but I got a lucky shot with this one.

I knew about NEWTREE but discovered the latest range of products recently.

That image was part of an exhibition I showed about 4 years ago while I was living in Sydney, Australia and working as a photojournalist. It was shot on a one-week 2000kms return trip between Sydney and Broken Hill in New South Wales, which is a small town on the edge of the great Australian Outback. Along with a colleague photographer, I wanted to document through portraits, places and details the real Australian life outside of the  city.

This tree was beautifully set on the edge of the road among fields, we just had to stop and shoot it from various angles!

NEWTREE: It was taken in Australia, so November there looks a bit different than in Belgium, home of NEWTREE! Is this what’s in your view the “spirit of November” looks and feels like?

Philippe: Indeed, it was shot at the beginning of Australia’s summer which explains the straw rolls next to the tree, so pretty different from our own November. The temperature in Australia’s November can easily hit 35c, the equivalent of our November down under would be April basically. Having said that, that tree was without leaves and even looked “nearly dead” so it still fits the November mood!

NEWTREE: For you personally, what does it mean to capture the beauty of nature in general and trees in particular in your photos?

Philippe: I prefer more the detail shots than vast panoramic landscapes images in general.

Capturing nature is a challenge for photographers as you need a lot of patience, attention for time and light (sun, clouds positioning, etc.) and usually return to the same place many times to really get the best shot.

In the case of this particular image, it was simply a matter of stopping the car for 5 minutes. We took the same road on the way back and the setting looked different already with another light!

I particularly like the tree trunks and roots, the shape and forms of their wood, as well as the mushrooms nesting at its roots!

NEWTREE: And a final question: a person who takes such beautiful photos of nature, and likes chocolate must be someone who is positive about life, and likes to enjoy it! How are you going to enjoy 2010?

Philippe: Actually, I prefer to photograph buildings, objects and people, but surely a nice landscape with a dramatic sky will always see my camera used! Scotland for that reason is one of the nicest places to shoot nature for me. I used to study and live there too.

Positivity is all in the mind, an attitude that must be constantly nurtured. Meditation, going to the gym, good Belgian beers, films and chocolate are indeed things that help me get to that state of mind.

For me, there are no big plans for 2010 except for some short trips within Europe, buying furniture for my Antwerp loft and enjoying great food & drink with my partner Annemarie and friends.

NEWTREE: Once again, thanks for participating in our Facebook photo competition, and have a happy and healthy new year!

Image source: imageafter.com

With our December tree photo competition taking place on Facebook, we wanted to look into the history of the ultimate symbol of December in many countries – a Christmas tree.

December is the only time of the year in many countries of the world when a tree gets adorned with ornaments, fruit and chocolate and becomes a symbol of festivity and joy.

In general, trees, and particularly, the tree of life, have been attributed extraordinary powers, especially those of immortality and fertility, throughout the history of humankind.

Adorning evergreen trees during the winter season is a tradition that had a symbolic meaning in pagan rituals. Decorated trees are said to have played a symbolic role during the Roman feast of Saturnalia and were cherished by the Druids in the period of winter solstice.

Some traces of the first Christmas trees being erected go back to the 16^th century in North Germany, a tradition which later on spread to many Slavic countries in Eastern Europe.

Enjoy the sensational moments of fun with your family and take time to inhale the fresh scent of the beautiful Christmas trees. We wish you a very happy Christmas season!

Current Mood: Playful

Photo by Christophe Deliens

We are very happy to have received a lot of very beautiful November tree photos from our Facebook fans. You can see them both on our Facebook fan page, as well as a separate photo gallery that we created on this blog.

The author of the winning photo will be rewarded by a chocolate massage.

HERE IS HOW WE WILL CHOOSE THE WINNER:

Our jury will consist of 5 NEWTREE staff members, one external member, as well as YOU, readers of this blog!

• If you are our blog reader, Facebook fan, or anyone else who follows NEWTREE’s activities on the web, you are welcome to vote for the most beautiful photo. The principle is simple:

1. go to our photo gallery of November trees,
   
2. choose 3 photos you like most and give 3 points to the one you like most, then 2 points to the second choice, and 1 point to your last choice
   
3. send your selection of the 3 photos to tree@newtree.be INDICATING THE NUMBER OF EACH PHOTO, and how many points you give it.
4. You can vote for photos by sending an email to tree@newtree.be from December 1, 2009 11 pm  till December 3, 2009 11 PM (GMT+1).

• NEWTREE employees on the jury will each select 3 photos of their choice.

• Out of 3 photos selected by each employee, the favorite one will receive 3 points, with the other two receiving 2 points and 1 points.

• Finally, an external jury member, Cécile Bolly, will select her preferred photo!

Cécile is a medical doctor, photographer and author of a book “La Magie des Arbres” (Magic of Trees).

Cécile shares the same passion for nature and trees as NEWTREE does, and she has kindly agreed to be one of our judges for each month’s best tree photo.

Together with  NEWTREE employees, Cécile will select the winning photo of the month. Next year, we will publish the 12 winning photos as a calendar with a foreword and a photo courtesy of Cécile Bolly.

Apart from that, we have some other surprises for you in connection to Cécile Bolly’s photographic art and her book “La Magie des Arbres”. For updates, become our fan on Facebook and watch our wall!